TommyR1

Got a question for you guys, I'm getting ready to buy the tC and I've been talking with a few dealers to see who will waive the $499 dealer documentation fee. Most aren't willing to budge on that but I did get one waive the fee, but I will not receive the Tires for Life or the Free Service Rental Car that they offer.

Do you guys think it's worth the tires and rental car if anything happens? I'm thinking that for $500 I'll be able to buy new tires when it's time to change them and I don't think the tC will be getting serviced for such a long period of time that I'll be needing a rental.

icdedppl

yeah, if you can get them to waive the doc fee, do it. and the tires for life that they offer you are probably not that great and if you have decent insurance, they give you a rental car too.

fyi: i'm here in orlando and no one will budge on the doc fee. the fees here range from $500-$700, so i would consider you lucky!

ack154

iTrader: (7)

Tires for life would be huge... a full set of tires would easily run you $500+ ONCE.

Eiso

Dude, tires for life is a taker! Get it! I would at least

dmikon

Ask them what kind of tires they use.

Thing is, replace your tires twice, and you will be paying $800+. If the tires are decent, the free tires will pay (and then some) for the doc fee.

However, I personally think that whole doc fee is bs. What is it for? To pay the employee doing the paperwork for 2 hours of work? To pay for the ink wasted in printing some stuff out? To pay for a few sheets of paper? To "process" the documents? None of it adds up to anything over $100.

TommyR1

Replacement tires would be the same or equal quality/value to what comes on the tC from the factory.

The free tires don't seem like a bad deal, but like you said it just bothers me that they are squeezing in a BS fee.

TommyR1

Got another update from a different dealer.....this one won't waive the dealer fee but will include a free LoJack system....he's stating that it's a $695 value.

rockettc

That's a really high doc fee. I just got mine last weekend and paid $125 and that included them getting me plates and a registration and a sticker. Well worth it to avoid all that hassle.

dmikon

I think doc fee = "We want to screw you over, but we can't add more to the cost of the car due to pure pricing, so we make up bullsh*t and call it 'Documentation & Dealer Processing Fee' to make it sound important and expensive. When paying the fee, it is advisable to bend over to make the payment easier."

VIP_tC

My doc fees at the dealer I bought my car from were only $35. I think some states have regulations on maximum fees allowed... Total on my car was $16,465 (base tC) +$35 (doc fees) = $16,500 total out the door. I bought my car out of state so I had to buy my plates and insurance seperate...

TommyR1

Damn....where you guys getting the sweet prices....pricing out a base tC with automatic on scion.com I got this:

Base MSRP $16,800
Del, Proc & Handling $585
Accessories $11
Documentation Fee $499
Grand Total $17,895

When I price it out with a Boston zip code I get this:

Base MSRP $16,800
Del, Proc & Handling $515
Accessories $0
Grand Total $17,315

Why am I getting whacked with a Doc Fee and some lame ___ Accessories fee here in Tampa and not in Boston? So much for pure pricing....

jaewon223

paid $149 for my doc fees. saw some people here that paid only like $40. i guess ti depends on dealerships

OooThatsSharp

Unfortunatly Scion told dealerships "You can't touch the M.S.R.P.", but they never told them anything about the doc fee. The dealership is using that just so they can make an extra couple hundred extra dollars per car (a dealer really only makes like $700 on a tC sale) so they crank up the doc fee just for profit. Here in Ohio, my dealerships fee is only $100 - the same that they charge for Toyotas, so you might want to ask your salesman what the doc fee is for their Toyotas, just to see if they are hosing you on your Scion.

icdedppl

Tommy, i made a similiar post awhile back. if you go to the scion site you will see that the doc fee is per the dealer, and has nothing to do with scion pure pricing. they even warn you on the website that the dealer charging this fee could be making a profit off of it. if you want, there is a stand alone scion dealership in hollywood, fl that charges *no* doc fee. it just depends on the dealer.

and yes, some states regulate that fee where others do not. obviously, fl isn't regulated as dealerships range from $0-$799 for the doc fee...

TommyR1

I'm not specifically pointing out a dealer now but Scion.com. If you configure the same car and put in a Florida zip code and then a Massachusetts zip code you will see that FL has a Doc Fee and MA does not. I have to find out why FL residents have to pay almost $500 extra for the same care....Pure Pricing my ___...[/url]

ack154

iTrader: (7)

Well the Pure Pricing is a Scion thing... not a dealer thing. The price for the Scion is the same - non-negotiable. The fee you're paying has nothing to do with the Scion company.

icdedppl

Tommy, i know what you're saying. again, some states regulate the fee some don't. also, some dealers in florida will charge you a fee and some won't.

as for why, some dealers have told me that the fee is so high because the car has to be delivered from california, to the dealerships make no money on the scion cars so they charge this fee to make some money, to they have such a high fee because to scion cars are in such high demand, it helps "regulate" selling the cars.

i believe my first post *ever* to this forum was me complaining about the dealer fees, but trust me, the dealership can charge you if they want to and you can either pay it and buy the car or not pay it and not buy the car. depending on the dealership and how hard-up they are to sell a car depends on if they will waive the fee or discount the fee. ie, your dealer said they would waive it if you didn't take the "tires for life" or "free rental". so, obviously they take part of that fee and put it towards "rewards" that they can offer you or other things which is nice. most of the dealers around here (central fl) don't offer such "rewards" for their $699 dealer processing fee...

if it really bothers you that much, drive over to the hollywood dealership. they charge no doc fee and i've heard many good things about them on this site.

TommyR1

In my quest for the truth sounds on when talking about buying cars I hit the Scion.com help chat line for some answeres, here's what went down:

Please wait for a Scion Customer Advocate to respond. You are number 1 in queue.
Chat InformationAll Scion Customer Advocates are currently assisting others. Thanks for your patience. An Advocate will be with you shortly.

Chat InformationYou are now chatting with Marley

Marley: Hi Tommy
Tommy: hello
Marley: How may I help you today?
Tommy: i was just pricing out a tC and noticed that Florida residents are being charged a $499 Doc Fee....why is that?
Tommy: any body there?
Marley: Thank you for allowing us to clarify "Pure Price" for you. The "Pure Price" business model states that after the price has been set, the price cannot be further negotiated and should equal your sales transaction price. However, dealers do have the right to set their own pricing. The prices you see on our website are simply the suggested retail prices recommended by the manufacturer (MSRP).
Tommy: but I'm not talking about a dealer but the scion.com website....if I configure a car and use a Boston zip code it does not show me the $499 doc fee but if I use a Tampa zip code I get the doc fee...
Marley: Due to the fact that Toyota does not own the distribution rights in SET (South East Toyota) hence they may have additional charges such as the one in question.
Tommy: well that stinks I have to pay $500 more for basically nothing...
Marley: I do apologize, it is out of our control.
Tommy: thank you for your help....have a good day!!!
Marley: Is there anything else I can help you with today?
Tommy: yeah fix the SET doc fees just kidding....i'm all set thank you...
Marley: Have a good one!

So I guess the Toyota dealer in the South East are acting like the mob, shaking people down for every penny....what a shame....I might look into some other car.

ack154

iTrader: (7)

I suggest to look into another dealer if you'd still like the car. There has to be another dealer within a decent distance. And you should price there to see if they have the fee.

icdedppl

lol. i guess you could compare them to the mob. unregulated! but yeah, go put in a hollywood, fl zip code, 33024. how come they charge no dealer fee? how come there are 4 dealers here within central florida, all within 10 miles of each other and the fee ranges from $499-$699? who knows. i was more upset about it like you were at first, but when you find out they can and will charge you if you want the car, there's not much you can do other then find the dealer with the cheapest doc fee.

and at least you get something out your fee at that one dealer! david mauss toyota had a scion tc with an "additional" price sticker. on it had the doc charges of $699. they also had another $299 (i think) for "tireX" which is "lifetime tires" AND they wanted to charge another $199 for two pin stripes on the car when no one asked for it. that's another $1200 in bull crap fees. talk about a racket...